U.S. court turns down appeal in genocide lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal that sought to hold a Canadian energy company accountable in U.S. courts for allegedly aiding genocide in its pursuit of oil in Sudan.
The court did not comment Monday on its order turning down an appeal from the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, which filed a civil lawsuit against Talisman Energy Inc. on behalf of current and former residents of southern Sudan who suffered injuries during six years of a decades-long conflict in the region.
Lower federal courts threw out the lawsuit, saying there was no credible evidence to support the claims against the Calgary-based company.
The company is Canada’s biggest independent oil and gas exploration and production company.
High court turns down online tobacco seller
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an online cigarette marketer who claimed his company was immune from Idaho laws regulating tobacco sales.
The justices on Monday let stand an Idaho Supreme Court ruling against Scott B. Maybee, who sold millions of cigarettes to Idaho smokers through Smartsmoker.com and Ordersmokesdirect.com.
The state claimed in a lawsuit that Maybee, a Native American from New York, was violating state laws requiring cigarette peddlers to register with the state and pay a fee to the state. The laws were passed in the wake of the national tobacco settlement in 1998.
Maybee claimed Idaho laws don’t apply because he’s protected by federal interstate and Indian commerce laws.
The case is Maybee v. Idaho, 09-1471.
Court won’t hear United Nations sex harassment case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t let a sexual harassment trial go forward against a former United Nations official.
The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Cynthia Brzak, an American who alleged that ex-refugee chief Ruud Lubbers grabbed her in a sexual manner after a December 2003 business meeting in his Geneva office.
Federal courts have said that the U.N. is absolutely immune from such a lawsuit, and its former employees also have immunity.
Lubbers resigned from the position in February 2005 because of the attention caused by the scandal. He’s also a former prime minister of the Netherlands.
The case is Brzak v. United Nations, 09-1481.
U.S. high court wants brief on Abu Ghraib suit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court wants to hear what the Obama administration thinks before deciding whether to hear an appeal from former detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq over claims of abuse by defense contractors.
The justices on Monday called on acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, to offer his views on whether two firms, CACI International Inc. and Titan Corp., can be sued over alleged abuses by interrogators they employed at the notorious Baghdad prison.
A divided federal appeals court in Washington dismissed the lawsuits filed by Iraqis who said they or their relatives were subjected to harsh interrogations.
The court imposed no deadline on the administration.
